Art to Wear

 

A dress from Freeway’s National Artist Collector’s Series

There are currently two National Artists featured: Nick Joaquin (for Literature) and Ang Kiukok (Visual Arts). There are shirts, bags and accessories that feature Kiukok figures/paintings, and bags, as well as wallets and dresses that have excerpts from Joaquin’s work (The Summer Solstice, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, etc). Above is a dress with text from The Summer Solstice. At about P1,500+ the dress is affordable enough, and can be worn in a lot of different places/events (the office, a small party, poetry recital, and so on). The tag is cute too. It says “Read verses to dry”.

I think it’s commendable what Freeway is trying to do here – mix fashion with both visual art and literature. It’s a great way to get people interested in local artists from different fields. My only complaint is that for the Joaquin stuff, the text is not that legible. I hope that Freeway continues to feature other National Artists, perhaps experimenting a bit. For example, they can create a piece of clothing inspired by a specific painting/poem/story as opposed to using text as decoration. Imagine using the imagery in (National Artist for Literature) Edith Tiempo’s “Bonsai” to create a skirt, or something along that line.

See the link above to view more pieces from the Freeway National Artist Collector's Series.

Michellan Rating: 3 Stars

Can satisfy both artsy-fartsy girls and girly girls!

- Michelle

I've seen that collection. While I love the whole concept of collaborating with National Artists, I wish Freeway would at least use better fabrics and that they were more creative instead of just stamping the works of these artists on their wares.
- Kristine

I agree with the being more creative part, that's why I hoped they would experiment a bit more. As for the fabric... good point! I wasn't thinking of that, actually. But Joel (my husband) actually pointed out that some of the stuff was cheap looking. Thus, I take back one star.
-Michelle